Stories Beyond the Stone: A Series of OneShots
by Stormzee
Summary: Four heroes, one story, and the pieces between....


Disclaimer: I do not own the story of the Wizard of OZ, nor do I own any part of Tin Man. Please do not repost without permission though ;)

Spoilers: All three installments.

A/N: So, this plot bunny fell into my head and would not disappear ever. Then I read that Cain was supposed to rescued in the waters but it was cut for some reason. So, this is my take on what happened when Cain fell from the castle window. Sorry for being vague but I don't want to spill the beans on my story ;)

* * *

**Rescuing Blondie**

My oldest daughter Morna was on watch that morning. Everyone had to watch who was deemed mature enough to handle the responsibility of alarming the city if the wicked witch and her long coated men decided to pillage the waters in search of the Last Emerald of Emerald City. The lives of too many had been destroyed for the search of the lost stone in our waters making the alarm crucial to the survival of everyone who is left.

My daughter, being deemed mature, was on her first shift ever. Naturally, I was floating near the watch stand praying nothing would happen today. I could see her from where I was sitting stringing shells onto seaweed. She sat very stoically staring out into the snow, waiting, watching, protecting. Nothing had happened in months, maybe even a year or so of months but in the land of the O.Z., that meant nothing.

But I would not be retelling this story if nothing happened the morning Morna had watch of the old castle. Although the beginning is as blinding as the endless snow storm on the ice, as Morna told me, she never saw any of them go into the castle…she just saw them exiting the castle. And when I say exiting the castle, I really mean falling from the Queen's look out point high above the ice. It was the breaking of the ice and the breaking of his fall which prompted Morna to sound the alarms.

The bellowing was a noise that I had never hoped to hear again. The last time the screaming of the sirens came, tragedy struck my own family in ways that I had never even imagined. But that is not a story for today. When Morna saw and felt what she felt through the water, she had no choice to strike the Bells of the Deep.

I immediately swam to my daughter to grab her and swim with her to the depths of the gulch. I could hear merchildren crying in fear while my own shouts seemed to come from another body. And just when I thought I was close enough to grab Morna, she was already swimming towards the waters in front of the castle. Changing directions as fast as I could, I swam after her as hard as I could. All I could think about was getting to Morna as fast as I could before Azkadellia could do anything to her.

I was either getting too old for be swimming after a mermaid like this or Morna was faster than I ever gave her credit for because I was falling behind the blur that was my daughter. But instead of swimming upwards like I was, Morna suddenly started to dive downwards. The murky waters have always been dark since Azkadellia enchanted the lake to be covered with ice but there was an unfamiliar light entering into the waves that were a sight for sore eyes. The light stopped me midstroke, it had been ages since light beyond the watch stand entered the water.

I looked downwards to where Morna was still speeding along and caught a glance at something that you do not see everyday in the water, a man sinking and not fighting it. I dove after Morna not thinking if the man was a Long Coat or Friend, just knowing that Morna was getting herself into a net of trouble. I did not hear the shouts of Aine, an old friend, until I was right upon Morna.

Grabbing her fin, I pulled my daughter right out of the reach of the man. She turned around quickly with a look of surprise on her face to see me. She tried to wriggle out of my grasp but I held tight as I pulled her upwards. The man remained motionless behind her, his blond hair moving with the motion of the waters.

"He's not a Long Coat, we have to take him back up!" Morna shouted, struggling against my pull. Within moments of Morna shouting and struggling with me, Aine was at our side.

"What are you two doing here?" Aine questioned as she started to pull on my own arm. She then spotted the man begin me and Morna, her jaw dropped in amazement; it was as if she did not even notice the broken ice or the light.

"You, to the gulch. Tell your Uncle what you saw and that the castle has been entered but not the waters. You, get over here and grab one of Blondie's arms," I pointed. Both of the mermaids started to pip in against my decision but one stern look and crossing of arms sent Morna to the gulch to tell her Uncle everything while Aine grabbed one of the man's arms.

"Saoirse, are you sure this is a good idea?" Aine grunted as we began to swim with the motionless man between us. We started a spiraling dance up towards the surface. It was hard with his heavy trench coat to swim upwards; it was getting tangled in our fins.

"I don't think it's a good idea but now's not the time to start using good ideas, especially with someone whose not a Long Coat," I groaned back. I arched my back as the swim finally started to reach the halfway point. "I don't know if we're going to make it to the top."

"We're already swimming, might as well get to the top," Aine stated back as she looked to the skies, "It's been ages since I've seen light." I laughed at her first comment as I turned my head to the skies as well. The light was perfect in all ways. It made me think of a younger looking Aine and a younger looking myself racing through the waters to see who could get to High Rock Peak first, my first kiss on the shores by the castle... But the light also was a reminder of who could be waiting for us when we reached the top with this blond man between us.

My eyes drifted out of my memories back to the man between us. He was fair skinned with a chiseled face probably around my age. The waters moving past his face were clouded, if it was my guess, he was bleeding on the other side of his face. I felt a tingle in my stomach like bubbles were floating to the top of the water. I could feel my face grow red as we passed half way. Questions kept running through my mind of who the man was and why he was in the waters.

The alarm was silenced as we moved closer to the surface. I was sure the mermen were to surround us soon but being almost closer to the top, I started to fear who we'd find beyond the ice. I hadn't seen shadows pass the light yet but I had no idea if it was by the doors to the castle which means Long Coats or his friends who pushed him or someone was still there. Pain started to run down my fin, for being in the water, someone who should have been no problem dragging upwards swimming with definitely was weighing us down somehow…

And just as we almost reached the top, something filled the waters flashing over us. I knew that Aine felt it as she almost dropped the man back into the deep. The feeling, it reminded me of…

"Old magic, do you feel it too Saoirse?" Aine shouted. I didn't have to answer her as her fin started to shimmer in the light. I looked down to my own which was positively glowing blue. Tingling rushed from my fin tips to my finger tips.

"There's only one way that old magic would be rushing the waters," I shouted back to her with a smile on my face. "Looks like Blondie might be in good company." There was only one way old magic would be returning to the lake that surrounded the castle which once housed two princesses who were daughters of a Queen who was gifted with the powers of light. That Queen who passed her powers on, the powers which gave the waters their magic, to save her daughter could only mean that her daughter found answers in the castle incased in ice. It seemed that after all those years, the tide was finally starting to turn in the land of O.Z.

"Does this, are you, do you think this has anything to do with you and Emerald?" Aine finally coughed out. I tried to hide behind the man to cover my surprised face but Aine had seen it anyways. I knew that Aine had figured out the part I had played in hiding the Last Emerald of the Emerald city but I had no idea that she would ever question it.

"If this does have to do with the Emerald, I'm afraid my part of that story is over," I responded. I could not deny the fact though that old magic had just rippled through the lake. I wondered how long it would take for the ice to melt.

"Right," Aine whispered as the final leg of the trip upwards finally caught up physically with her as she breathed heavily. "That's why we're dragging this Blondie back up to the surface, right?" I ignored her and looked up to the ever enlarging hole above us. And just like that, we were within a stroke away from the surface. Slowing down, Aine and I peeked our heads out of the water into the open. There were a lot of tracks in the snow but no one was around. I grabbed the ice and pulled upwards with my arms to get his head out of the water. Aine popped out of the water as quick as I did.

"I don't think he's breathing Aine," I whispered to her trying to stay quiet just in case there were still Long Coats. She nodded to me as we slid him onto the solid ice. I pulled myself onto the ice and then extending my hand, helped pull Aine onto the ice as well. He was on his stomach, not moving and in time going to be frozen solid. Aine and I sat awkwardly on the ice, our fins glowing colors, hair stuck to our skin, and starting to shiver from the cold air.

"Do you think that was really old magic in the waters?" Aine asked quietly, "Because you know, we could probably, you know." I nodded my head.

"There's only one way to find out," I whispered back. "I'll breath, you air out?" Aine nodded as we both reached for different parts of his body, I his lips and her his coat. Warm air seemed to blow right out of her finger tips as his clothes immediately dried out turning the darker colored material into more earth toned grays, tans, and blacks. I, on the other hand dealing with a much more intimate place of touch, gently touched my finger tip to his lip while closing my eyes. A rush of cold air seemed to almost knock my fins off while the breathless man's lungs inhaled for the first time. He coughed and shook for a moment but continued to keep on breathing. I exhaled in relief, the feeling in the pit of my stomach to bubble double fold. A half smile grew on my face, immediately wiped away by a brisk cold breeze.

"He can't stay here, he'll freeze," I whispered. We both looked around; there was no one on the barren lake. His skin was starting to eerily turn the same color as the snow around him. We were losing time fast…Aine looked like she was ready to leave the man on the ice when her face seemed to brighten up.

"Saoirse, give me your hands," she practically shouted holding out her own hands. I raised an eyebrow as I pulled myself closer to Aine while I held out my hands. She quickly grabbed them and closed her eyes. I felt her magic flow right through my hands causing my eyes to close in surprise.

When I opened them, I was standing on a pair of feet in the Great Hall of the Castle. I nearly tipped over in surprise, I had only been in the Great Hall once ages ago. I had on a long black skirt with a white shirt that looked a lot like the one Blondie was wearing. Aine really did lack imagination sometimes.

"_Do you see anyone?"_ I heard. I looked around quick, but memories of years ago and games that Aine and I would play instantly entered my mind. Aine had the unique ability to send anyone's "echo" to another spot in the O.Z. while holding onto their hands. It was an ability that had been buried when Azkadellia enchanted the lake to be covered in ice, cutting off the old magic which flowed in the lake. The last pockets of old magic in the lake were used to create the watch stand sealing our fates as the guardians of the castle.

"No," I said back. I carefully started to walk slowly around the castle trying to keep my balance. I could feel echoes of animal magic in the Great Hall, I had a feeling the flying creatures from hell had taken flight to capture foes of Azkadellia. Tripping over my own two feet, I fell to the ground, catching myself painfully with my hands. I still could not believe that I could feel pain when Aine sent me but yet I was more like a ghost to everyone else.

"_You alright?" _I heard.

"Just not used to running around on two feet," I gritted through my teeth. From the ground I looked around. Something on the ground ahead of me to my right caught my eyes. "Someone is still here!"

Pulling myself up quickly, I moved as fast as I could to the figure on the ground. There was a familiarity to the person on the ground, like I knew them from something but I could not place where.

"_Did you figure out who it is yet?"_ I heard. Aine was impatience as I was. The figure was sprawled out on the ground like the man out side was. Curly brown hair covered his hair, except for the zipper which was on his head. A zipper? His clothes seemed just as familiar just older and worn. I kneeled by his head and tried to see through his hair that I could not touch.

_"Saoirse, who is it? Is it a Long Coat?"_ I heard again. I looked at him again before answering Aine when someone on his coat caught my eye. There were gold toggles and stitching on his coat. I had a flash of a memory where said coat fell from the tree which reached over the lake because someone was in the tree trying to study the flowers which were blooming.

"It's Ambrose! Aine, it's Ambrose, he's alive. I can't believe it, count the lucky fishes, I thought he was killed ages ago," I shouted.

_"Do you think he's here with this person? If Ambrose is here and old magic is flowing through the waters…do you think he was with DG?" _Aine shouted back. The excitement was spreading. It had to be.

"How do I wake him up? He has to wake up!" I shouted. I pushed myself away from Ambrose and immediately started to pound my hands on the floor. "Ambrose! Ambrose wake up!" I repeated over and over again. I pounded the floor until my hands grew red and my voice horse. I was surprised that Aine let me stay that long. Exhausted, I dropped to the ground by Ambrose's face, tears forming in my eyes. The man outside was going to die, my oldest friend could be lying here dead, and there was nothing Aine or I could do about it now. I reached out to touch Ambrose's face, wishing I could touch him but he was too far away for my touch. Just as my finger tips were close enough to touch him, if were technically were in the same spot at the same time, Ambrose jumped to life. I was instantly kneeling as Ambrose seemed to move himself up to standing. He looked confused and scattered for a moment, looking like he had no idea where he was or even who he was. I didn't recognize him as he looked right through me, his confused look, the light in his eyes, the way he moved wasn't the Ambrose that I knew. With a mutter of the word "Raw," Ambrose took off up the Grand Staircase.

"Aine, bring me back," I shouted as I closed my eyes. When I opened them, Aine was letting go of my hands outside. Her lips were starting to turn blue and she couldn't stop shivering.

"It got cold out Saoirse, mind if I jump back in the water?" she whispered. I shook my head and Aine let herself sink back into the warmer waters of our home. I leaned over the man to make sure he was still breathing. Just like Aine, his lips were starting to turn the lightest color of blue. I turned to look to my friend who was in the water now, peeking her eyes and ears out of the waters.

"It was Ambrose Aine, it was and it wasn't. He was different, a look in his eyes. He had a zipper Aine, they must have stolen his brains. Azkadellia must have done something horrible to him," I said starting at a shout and ending at a whisper.

"He's still in there Saoirse. He wouldn't be here if he wasn't," Aine said trying to sound convincing. We all knew the stories, what happened to poor souls who gained zippers. "Aren't you freezing, come back in the waters for a moment." Knowing soon enough I'd be no help to anyone as a frozen fish, I dived back into the waters letting the warmth engulf me. I looked at Aine one more time and then popped out of the waters.

* * *

Looking from the broken window, he couldn't see Cain anywhere. 

Anywhere.

Anywhere.

Feeling the gun in one hand and the hat in the other, Glitch took a step forward and looked straight down from the window. He couldn't imagine if someone feel from the window that they could survive. On one hand, everything in the world feel at the same rate of speed so if Cain was a feather, he would have fallen just as fast as he if he was three hundred pounds of meat. But why would Cain be a feather or three hundred pounds of meat unless he was enchanted into something like that especially at this height.

Wowza, he was really high up. The view looked so familiar yet so different. He didn't realized it snowed so much this time of year…wait what time of year was it anyways? A million questions circled in his half empty head of his. He raised his hand to wipe his brow because he had never been comfortable with heights when he realized he was still holding a hat.

"Cain," Glitch whispered as he looked down again. Lying in the snow next to a hole was a figure. And if he had money to bet, he'd bet that the figure lying in the snow was no one else other than the Tin Man himself. With a feeling that he thought was called urgency, or maybe it was craziness, Glitch took off at a run to help Cain.

Through the small hole that DG had made, Glitch skidded to where Cain was laying. He was facing Cain, holding on tight to his gun and hat when a head popped out of hole in the ice. It startled him so much he slipped on the ice and fell right next to Cain. Lying right next to the unconscious Cain, Glitch peaks his head right over the body. This time, he did not just see a head. Something rushed through his system but the word escaped him.

"Ambrose, I know you've been gone for years but you really don't recognize me," he heard a squeaky voice ask. Ambrose, that was a name that he recognized but he didn't know from where. He sat up and looked over to the woman who was pulling herself out of the hole in the ice. She had long black hair but no feet, just something that a fish would have. She was quite sparkly too.

Sparkly.

Sparkly.

Sparkly.

Sparkly.

"Ambrose?" he heard again. He shook his head to shake out the repeating sparkles.

"Glitch, my name is Glitch. Do I know you?" he asked. The woman, creature, cocked her head at him. Glitch knew he knew who she was, her green eyes looked all too familiar. He rose to his feet, entirely forgetting that there was a body by his feet.

"You have to get him somewhere warm, do you remember why?" she stated, putting her hand on Cain's back. CAIN.

"Cain," Glitch shouted. He reached down and started to pull his larger friend off of the ice. He put the hat on his head and the gun in its holster. He had to remember that Cain was cold and needed to be warmed up. It was imperative that he remembered to get Cain warm.

"Glitch, remember to get him warm, you'll have to get blankets and start a fire," the woman fish thing said to him. Where was he to go, where was he going to find wood for a fire?

"How did you get here Glitch, you just didn't appear," she stated again.

"A crazy vehicle, one with drawings painted upon it," Glitch remembered. He remembered DG, freeing Cain, Raw, Central City, the ugly vehicle, the snow, Azkadellia, Cain lying in the snow. Cain lying in the snow. He remembered her too; looking at the woman whose freckles seemed to sparkle like her fin. Her fin. She was a mermaid from the depths of the waters around the lake. She was always interested in his experiments as he was in her magic. Her green eyes, her blue freckles, blue fin. He looked down to her as her eyes yearned to see a part of their friendship, something he realized he knew was there.

"Saoirse," he said and paused. "If I remember, I'll tell Cain all about you." He said with a smile. The relief on her face warmed his chest and his head.

"I better see you again Amb..Glitch. It's been too long as it were," Saoirse stated as she slide herself back into the waters, leaving her head and hands above water.

"You get Blondie warm," she stated. Glitch nodded his head. He was starting to remember how long of a walk it was to the vehicle. He slowly turned with Cain's head on his shoulder and head. It was an interesting feeling, having someone lean on you. He wondered if this is what it felt like rescuing someone…because he really didn't know if this counted as rescuing someone…well he was going to be warming up Cain who was alarmingly cold…so it could be rescuing someone…just like DG rescued him…DG! Where was she? And Raw? He was going to have to look for Raw….

* * *

I sunk back into the waters where mermen and mermaids were surrounding the where I was floating. The feeling of extreme disappointment filled my chest as I realized that Ambrose would probably never be the same again…and now I wasn't going to be able to stay and help use the old magic to thaw out the lake and castle. Suddenly I felt Aine shaking my arms. 

"What happened? Did Ambrose come, what did he say?" Aine practically shouted in my face. I looked around at the different mermen and mermaids who were surrounding me. There were so many different colors; it was like I just had gone over the rainbow. I could see different flashes of colors and the waters already felt warmer. I turned back to Aine knowing that the next thing I said was about to seal my fate, involving myself back into turning the tide on Azkadellia.

"I've have to go and find the Seeker."

* * *

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think! 

HM


End file.
